Valve introduces Steam Deck

[Belvedere]

MS has neither the manpower, talent nor the will to actually do that. they tried with vista and couldn't do it, and they were vastly more competent company back then.

Despite appearances, currently Microsoft is the most valuable company in the entire world.

Spoiler: Micro$oft

They have the resources and the manpower to do whatever they want, what was lacking was a motivation to do so. It wouldn't even take that large of an investment in manpower to pull of what Valve already is doing with a far smaller team, I'm even confident to say that there is a pool of talented software engineers within the company that were already aching to work on this concept but were always denied by upper management because it wasn't a priority. Now it is basically a mandate because the Xbox division has announced that their next console hardware is going to essentially be a PC running Windows. All it took was for Valve to minimally threaten the dominance of Windows in the PC gaming space by showing that an alternative is possible.

1:00 "Not locked to a single store..."

The next Xbox is going to be their version of Valve's rumored Fremont hardware. For this to work they'll have to make a custom version of Windows that is able to run PC games while at the same time behaving like a console OS. It is happening, what is up in the air is how successful they'll be making it seamless and idiot proof enough to be market ready,

 

[Baraka Obama]

I'm even confident to say that there is a pool of talented software engineers within the company that were already aching to work on this concept but were always denied by upper management because it wasn't a priority.

It's usually not upper management in the way, that does happen sometimes as budgets are controlled by them, but I would expect it to be more of a process problem.

At Valve there's no hierarchy, and projects live or die by passion. A true passion project like the Steam Deck is a natural fit to this company.

At a big company like Microsoft you don't get passion projects, you get a bureaucratic nightmare of approvals, committees, oversight groups, readiness reviews, architectural approvals, impact assessments, product/program/project managers, TPMs, and a dizzying array of bs. You'll have a team of 15 people managed by 15 more with 75 worthless husks hovering around making meaningful progress difficult. This is made especially difficult at Microsoft where teams are notorious for fighting each other with similar ideas.

 

[Betonhaus]

Despite appearances, currently Microsoft is the most valuable company in the entire world

That just means that they have decades of investments to coast on. Boeing is a very valuable company but their products are shit. Microsoft no longer has competent engineers as they have been replaced by jeets, diversity hires, and himbos that get HR wet.

 

[Jarch6]

That just means that they have decades of investments to coast on. Boeing is a very valuable company but their products are shit. Microsoft no longer has competent engineers as they have been replaced by jeets, diversity hires, and himbos that get HR wet.

100%, Windows 11 is shoddy bloatware that would have been outcompeted by now if it wasn't for monumental inertia.

They have the resources and the manpower to do whatever they want, what was lacking was a motivation to do so. It wouldn't even take that large of an investment in manpower to pull of what Valve already is doing with a far smaller team, I'm even confident to say that there is a pool of talented software engineers within the company that were already aching to work on this concept but were always denied by upper management because it wasn't a priority. Now it is basically a mandate because the Xbox division has announced that their next console hardware is going to essentially be a PC running Windows. All it took was for Valve to minimally threaten the dominance of Windows in the PC gaming space by showing that an alternative is possible.

They've thrown plenty of money around for sure, but I'm doubtful of there being any serious talent left at Microsoft. If any is there, it's focused on maintaining Microsoft's actual moneymakers (Excel, Azure, Teams, etc.) or trying to ride the AI wave. I imagine this PC gaming venture will end up being a rather limited affair, lazily copying whatever Valve does moving forward.

 

[DeadwastePrime]

microsoft should realize they need a lighter mobile and handheld specific version of windows to run on such devices, which they havent done since idk win 8.

 

[Betonhaus]

microsoft should realize they need a lighter mobile and handheld specific version of windows to run on such devices, which they havent done since idk win 8.

but then how would they advertise services that nobody wants?

 

[hog cranking frog]

Bring back Windows CE

 

[Flabba Wabba Jabba]

You guys reckon the Steam Deck is worth it in 2025? I know there's the ASUS Rog Ally X, Legion Go and others but I've been eyeing up the 1TB OLED and getting cold feet knowing there are competitors, but I unironically trust Valve in their quality.

 

[Baraka Obama]

You guys reckon the Steam Deck is worth it in 2025? I know there's the ASUS Rog Ally X, Legion Go and others but I've been eyeing up the 1TB OLED and getting cold feet knowing there are competitors, but I unironically trust Valve in their quality.

What games do you want to play? If it's not recent AAA Unreal Engine 5 games they all run well enough on Steam Deck, battery life is better, the screen is better on OLED, and Steam OS offers a really great consolized PC experience.

 

[Belvedere]

You guys reckon the Steam Deck is worth it in 2025? I know there's the ASUS Rog Ally X, Legion Go and others but I've been eyeing up the 1TB OLED and getting cold feet knowing there are competitors, but I unironically trust Valve in their quality.

I've seen a lot of reviews about many new handhelds and it all comes down to the Steam Deck still being the best value proposition not only for its price to performance comparison but because of ergonomics, control options, support and a myriad of community resources available. Also it has the best OLED screen from devices of this class. The negative is that indeed don't expect to play the newest AAA games at any degree of high graphical settings, Think of it as the perfect Steam backlog killer and emulation machine.

 

[Two Dollars]

I've seen a lot of reviews about many new handhelds and it all comes down to the Steam Deck still being the best value proposition not only for its price to performance comparison but because of ergonomics, control options, support and a myriad of community resources available. Also it has the best OLED screen from devices of this class. The negative is that indeed don't expect to play the newest AAA games at any degree of high graphical settings, Think of it as the perfect Steam backlog killer and emulation machine.

I feel like the only person who absolutely hates the ergonomics of the Steam Deck, it may be the single most uncomfortable handheld I’ve ever used. Docked is a different story, but that’s assuming your dock doesn’t randomly decide to cap out at 480p or something.

 

[Flabba Wabba Jabba]

I've seen a lot of reviews about many new handhelds and it all comes down to the Steam Deck still being the best value proposition not only for its price to performance comparison but because of ergonomics, control options, support and a myriad of community resources available. Also it has the best OLED screen from devices of this class. The negative is that indeed don't expect to play the newest AAA games at any degree of high graphical settings, Think of it as the perfect Steam backlog killer and emulation machine.

I remember being really annoyed at how poor PS1/PS2 emulation was maybe a decade ago, which I've read there's a website that offers a Steam Deck emulation service that works nearly perfectly. It would be fucking awesome to be able to play old console games like Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank 3 and Fable 2 again.

Fuck it, you guys have convinced me to buy one.

Update: ordered and it's coming tomorrow with a glass screen protector.

 

[Battlefield42]

I remember being really annoyed at how poor PS1/PS2 emulation was maybe a decade ago, which I've read there's a website that offers a Steam Deck emulation service that works nearly perfectly. It would be fucking awesome to be able to play old console games like Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank 3 and Fable 2 again.

Fuck it, you guys have convinced me to buy one.

Update: ordered and it's coming tomorrow with a glass screen protector.

PS2 emulation is still rather shit imo. Some games i want to play stilldon't run well

 

[Belvedere]

I remember being really annoyed at how poor PS1/PS2 emulation was maybe a decade ago, which I've read there's a website that offers a Steam Deck emulation service that works nearly perfectly. It would be fucking awesome to be able to play old console games like Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank 3 and Fable 2 again.

Fuck it, you guys have convinced me to buy one.

Update: ordered and it's coming tomorrow with a glass screen protector.

Duckstation and PCSX2 has been an absolute revolution when it comes to making PS1/Ps2 emulation a reality. As for setting up emulation on Steam Deck there is Emudeck. It works on desktop too:

Configure your SteamOS and Steam Deck Emulators

Configure your Steam Deck Emulators

www.emudeck.com

It offers detailed instructions of how to set it up step by step. You have to provide the Bios of some of the systems and the roms on your own but there are plenty of places online were you can get them. Hint: I found a complete bios collection on internet archive.

PS2 emulation is still rather shit imo. Some games i want to play stilldon't run well

It is not 100% perfect but it is far from being shit. I've been playing a lot of emulated PS2 titles with little to no issue on PCSX2. The emulator keeps getting constant updates, over 99% of the PS2 library is playable.

The main issue with PS2 emulation is that it is difficult to find modern controllers with pressure sensitive face buttons. Even so the Steam Deck's touch pads are pressure sensitive so these can be mapped to simulate that sort of input for the games that might require it.

Spoiler: Jak II

I've been playing Jak II recently and it runs almost perfect, the only issue I've encountered is the music briefly skipping during the city traversal section but then resuming normally, The vehicles use pressure sensitive acceleration/braking with X/Square, but other than that it plays just fine.

 

[ZMOT]

They have the resources and the manpower to do whatever they want

resources yes, but how has that worked out so far? xbox must be doing great with that valuation based on the whole company and not just the windows division. which they are giving away for free atm with lackluster adoption to the point they literally have to offer an retarded option for private users to keep using windows 10. and xbox is only a part of that.

it should be easy to figure out where the money actually comes from (inb4 "13.4 billion", with growth in the single digits. fucking linked performed better in Q3 2025, and it gets even worse looking at the overall trend).

but if you say so I can't wait what they gonna produce now when they couldn't even manage it back when it was run by evil white guys...

 

[Belvedere]

resources yes, but how has that worked out so far? xbox must be doing great with that valuation based on the whole company and not just the windows division

Yes, I know, that's why I mentioned Microsoft as a whole, not the separate divisions.

I can't wait what they gonna produce now when they couldn't even manage it back when it was run by evil white guys...

This mind virus isn't exclusive to Microsoft, it is literally in every corporation and company. I remember this particular stream, it was at the absolute height of progressiveness and woke some 3 years ago. but some semblance of sanity is returning very slowly and with a lot of opposition. These corporations behave like fully loaded trains suddenly hitting the brakes, they'll just keep sliding down the rails for miles before finally stopping. Ultimately trying to carry out "business as usual" with this sort of mentality is going to be unsustainable and it will inevitably cause a disaster for the company if they don't stop in time.

In all honesty this is why a crash seems inevitable, and it would be preferable as the ultimate way to purge the entire sector from this rot.

 

[Miller]

Interesting news, not entirely related to the Steam Deck but still, Valve is changing the FPS counter, they are adding more features to the FPS overlay:

 

[hog cranking frog]

Little confused since Steam Deck has had a performance monitor in the form of MangoHud day 1. I guess the dlss stuff is new.

 

[GeorgeFloydFentanylStash]

Downloaded FFVII Rebirth some months back to try to see if it would work on my Linux desktop. It complained about directx files. So i just shelved it.

Had an idea to just put it on a external drive and try it out on ky steam deck. And it works. All the pirated games i’ve thrown at the Steamdeck have worked.

Crown Gaben for how far Valve has pushed linux gaming. Before Valve got into supporting Linux, gaming on a linux box was a dumpster fire.

 

[Flabba Wabba Jabba]

Had my Deck for a few days now and I am no longer playing most games on my PC except for really graphically intensive games (Stellar Blade mainly). Been playing Signalis on it and I feel like this game was made for the Deck, it's fucking incredible.

Absolute hats off to Valve man, this thing just werks and it's fucking amazing how well games like Kenshi (with like 40 mods loaded) work on the Deck.